ring to make St. Lawrence Island, where the head government
reindeer herder was to be landed, the _Bear_ struck a heavy ice pack,
and the little vessel had to give up the attempt to land. She worked to
the northeast, out of the ice, and the captain changed the ship's course
for King Island.

This was the first opportunity Eric had to use his U. S.
Commissionership. One of the natives, who had been associated with the
white prospectors, was accused of ill-treatment towards his children, a
very unusual condition in the Arctic. He had boasted a good deal to the
other natives that the United States had no judges so far north, and
that the white men could not punish him. In order to teach him a lesson,
Eric heard the case, found the man guilty and sentenced the native to a
day's imprisonment in the ship's brig, in irons, releasing him shortly
before the vessel sailed. A sick native, with his wife and three small
children were taken on board, for transportation to the hospital at
Nome.

The young lieutenant also made an inspection of Prince of Wales village.
During the entire winter there had not been a single case of disturbance
and hardly a case of sickness.

"There are mighty few villages of the same size in the States," said the
surgeon to Eric, as they were returning to the boat, "which could show
as good a record as these Eskimo villages. Nobody sick, nobody living on
charity, nobody headed for jail!"

Returning to Nome, what was Eric's delight to find Homer Tierre awaiting
them! He had been assigned to duty on the _Bear_ to relieve one of the
juniors, who had been assigned to another cutter, and the two young
officers greeted each other warmly. The head government reindeer-herder
was eager to get to his post, so the _Bear_ made a second attempt, this
time successfully.

On the island only one case came up before Eric as United States
Commissioner, that of a native who had allowed his dogs to run in the
reindeer herds, four deer having been killed. Eric, before whom the case
was tried, ruled that the native should be made to pay for the deer. As
the margin of living in those barren islands is very small, this was
quite a heavy punishment, and struck terror into the hearts of the
natives. They had been ignoring the government's regulations concerning
the corralling of the huskies, believing that there was no one with
power to punish infractions of the law.

From there the _Bear_ went to Cape Prince of Wales, and h